Émilie Du Châtelet on Illusions

Abstract

In her Discourse on Happiness, Émilie du Châtelet argues susceptibility to illusion is one of the five ‘great machines of happiness,’ and that ‘we owe most of our pleasures to illusions’ (2009: 349). However, many who read the Discourse find this aspect of her view puzzling and in tension with her claims that we must always seek truth and obey reason. To understand better her claims in the Discourse on Happiness, this article explores Du Châtelet's discussions of illusions in her Foundations of Physics, On Liberty, and the Dissertation on the Nature and Propagation of Fire. I distinguish four types of illusions that Du Châtelet posits and clarify the ways in which these relate to her views on happiness and love in the Discourse and argue that she avoids deceptive or perpetual illusions of happiness through the use of the principle of sufficient reason.

Du Châtelet's Libertarianism

“…On such arguments from the first-person experience of freedom and Spinoza's influential criticisms, see Barry (2016). And see Lascano (2021) on Du Châtelet's response to worries that our experience of freedom is illusory. 10 I am indebted to Anne-Lise Rey (2017) for bringing this passage to my attention.…”

Toward a new phase of Du Châtelet scholarship: From Institutions de Physique (1740) to Institutions Physiques (1742)

“…Scholars have made impressive progress in interpreting Du Châtelet's magnum opus, Institutions de Physique (1740) (e.g., Brading 2019;Janik 1982;Stan 2018;Lascano 2021;Detlefsen 2013).…”